'''Catholicos''' (plural ''Catholicoi'') is a title used by the ruling [[bishop]] of a number of Christian churches in the middle east. Except for the ruling bishop of the [[Church of Georgia]], most of these churches separated themselves from the Orthodox Church as result of the various Christological disputes during the first millennium of Christ’s Church.

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'''Catholicos''' is a title used by the ruling [[bishop|bishops]] or [[primate|primates]] of several churches in the Middle East. With the exception of the [[Church of Georgia|Georgian Orthodox Church]] none of these churches accept the Christology promulgated by the [[Fourth Ecumenical Council|Council of Chalcedon]].

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The word Catholicos comes from the Greek καθολικός (Katholikos), pl. καθολικοί, meaning: concerning the whole, universal or general. The title seems to have originated among the churches on the eastern edge of the Roman Empire and within the Persian Empire around the third and fourth centuries. The [[Church of Antioch|Patriarch of Anitoch]] presided over much of this area. By the end of the fifth century almost all the local bishops used the title ''catholicos''. Thus, the word ''catholicos'' at the time was not synonymous with ''patriarch''.

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The word itself comes from the Greek καθολικός (plural καθολικοί), meaning 'concerning the whole,' 'universal,' or 'general.' The title seems to have originated among the churches on the eastern edge of the Roman Empire and within the Sassanian Empire around the third and fourth centuries. The [[Church of Antioch]] had jurisdiction over this region. By the end of the fifth century almost all the local bishops used the title ''catholicos''. Thus, the word ''catholicos'' at the time was not synonymous with ''[[patriarch]]''.

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During the Christological disputes, many of the Catholicates in the middle east came to reject the position of the Orthodox as expressed by the decisions of the [[Ecumenical Councils]], joining principally the [[Nestorianism|Nestorian]] or [[Monophysitism|Monophysitic]] [[heresy|heresies]]. Only the [[Church of Georgia]] remained Orthodox and retains use of Catholicos in the ruling hierarch’s title: His Holiness and Beatitude, Catholicos-Patriarch of all Georgia.

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During the Christological disputes many of the catholicates in the Middle East rejected certain of the later [[Ecumenical Councils]]. The Catholicate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon of the [[Assyrian Church of the East|Church of the East]], nominally subject to Antioch, accepted the first two ecumenical councils, but rejected the [[Third Ecumenical Council|Council of Ephesus]]. The Catholicates of the [[Church of Armenia|Armenian Orthodox Church]] and the [[Church of Arran|Arranian Orthodox Church]] accepted Ephesus and were initially ambivalent about Chalcedon, but eventually rejected its Christology as being too influenced by [[Nestorianism]].

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Following the schism of the Church of the East after the Council of Ephesus the catholicate died out in the Church of Antioch, only to be revived later by the [[Church of Antioch (Syriac)|Syriac Orthodox Church]], first in its original seat in Mesopotamia and later in southern India.

The word itself comes from the Greek καθολικός (plural καθολικοί), meaning 'concerning the whole,' 'universal,' or 'general.' The title seems to have originated among the churches on the eastern edge of the Roman Empire and within the Sassanian Empire around the third and fourth centuries. The Church of Antioch had jurisdiction over this region. By the end of the fifth century almost all the local bishops used the title catholicos. Thus, the word catholicos at the time was not synonymous with patriarch.

Following the schism of the Church of the East after the Council of Ephesus the catholicate died out in the Church of Antioch, only to be revived later by the Syriac Orthodox Church, first in its original seat in Mesopotamia and later in southern India.